LAS VEGAS — While the first day of the LeBron James Skills Academy featured just one round of games for the high school players, Thursday’s schedule called for two rounds to be played during the afternoon. And while there were a couple players who had to miss out on the action due to injury issues, including Malik Newman and Isaiah Briscoe, there wasn’t a lack for enticing individual matchups on the second day.

It can be argued that the biggest matchup was the one between elite 2015 front court prospects Ben Simmons and Ivan Rabb. Both put forth quality performances on the first day of the camp and that would remain the case Thursday night, with it being argued by some that the LSU commit (Simmons) held the upper hand in the first half of their game with Rabb coming back in strong fashion in the second.

While Rabb remains the focus of many of the nation’s top programs, it’s been clear through two days that LSU has itself an outstanding future Tiger in Simmons due to his ability to attack defenses in transition as well as in the paint with a solid variety of moves. However Rabb and Simmons weren’t the only two big men to put forth impressive displays Thursday night, with the Huntington Prep tandem of Thomas Bryant and Ted Kapita working well together in their team’s victory.

Bryant, a five-star 2015 prospect, and Kapita (also 2015) ran the floor well and played aggressively on both ends of the floor in their matchup with 2015 seven-footers Doral Moore and Stephen Zimmerman. The energy Bryant and Kapita played with boosted their entire team, which bounced back from a sluggish start (trailing 9-2) to win a game they led by as many as 24 points.

While Kapita, who wants to study sports management in college, didn’t divulge much when asked which schools are currently the most active in his recruitment, Bryant mentioned three programs.

“The schools that have been most active are Syracuse, Ohio State and Kansas,” Bryant told NBCSports.com.

When asked what he’s looking for in the school that he’ll ultimately choose, Bryant noted his desire to be in a program that will help him expand his game. To that point, Bryant’s working this summer to become an even more effective player in the post.

“I’m just trying to improve my post game,” Bryant noted. “Also, staying in control and not going too fast when I get the ball in the post. Those are the big things I’ve been working on, as well as becoming more consistent with my shot.”

Jayson Taytum, Troy Brown among non-2015 standouts: While the crop of rising seniors tends to receive more attention during the spring/summer months, this is also an important time for the players who won’t be seniors next year. And two who have performed well in Las Vegas are 2016 forward Jayson Tatum and 2017 guard Troy Brown.

Tatum’s considered to be one of the best (if not the best) players in his class, and with his smooth game it’s easy to see why that’s the case. Tatum has displayed the ability to score from just about anywhere on the floor, and among the head coaches watching the game in which he played Thursday night were Jim Crews (Saint Louis), Mike Krzyzewski (Duke) and Bill Self (Kansas).

As for Brown, he’s a 2017 prospect from Las Vegas who has already received an offer from Arizona. There’s clearly still plenty of time for Brown to hone his skills, but many have already walked away impressed by what he’s shown himself capable of doing. Brown’s knocked down perimeter shots while also getting to the basket in an efficient manner, not wasting dribbles in the process.

Stanley Johnson, Sam Dekker continue to impress: One day after the high school players had their opportunity to play on the same floor as LeBron James, it was the college players who scrimmaged with the two-time NBA champion. And two of the players who stood out were Arizona’s Stanley Johnson and Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker, with both taking on the challenge of defending James on one end and attacking him on the other.

Johnson has the ability to not only get to the basket but also finish through contact once there, a trait that will fit in well with his college team this winter. As for Dekker he’s been even more aggressive offensively, and one of his goals this summer has been to work towards become a more consistent perimeter shooter.

“I see myself as a good shooter but I didn’t shoot as well as I wanted to,” Dekker said. “I was streaky. I’d go five or six games shooting really well, and then three or four when I couldn’t hit an outside shot consistently. So I want to [improve my] shooting and get stronger so I can bang inside on offense and defense, get boards and finish around the rim.

“The more complete player I can become, the more it will help us out.”

Perry Ellis, Michael Qualls perform well on Thursday: Two other players who played well during the college workouts are Kansas forward Perry Ellis and Arkansas guard Michael Qualls, and both will be key figures for their respective teams in 2014-15. Ellis, who posted averages of 13.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game last season, has shown the ability to score around the basket while also knocking down mid-range jumpers during the first two days of the camp.

With the Jayhawks having to account for the loss of Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid (there were other personnel losses as well), there’s room for Ellis to take another step forward as a junior. And he’s shown the skills needed to make sure that happens in Las Vegas.

As for Qualls, the athleticism he’s shown this week comes as no surprise. He’s attacked the basket during the camp scrimmages, at times doing so with bad intentions. The question for Qualls is whether or not he can take another step forward as a perimeter shooter.

After making just six of his 27 three-point attempts as a freshman, Qualls shot 35 percent (42-for-120) from three last season. However according to hoop-math.com Qualls shot just 29.6% on two-point jumpers, so that’s an area where strides can be made ahead of the 2014-15 season.

On Thursday afternoon, Brad Underwood, the new head coach of Illinois, was invited to Wrigley Field to throw out the first pitch and sing ‘Take Me Out To The Ball Game’ during the seventh inning stretch.

While the ceremonial first pitch went well, his rendition of the ballpark classic did not go as smoothly.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The American Athletic Conference will hold its men’s basketball tournament in a new arena in North Texas in 2020.

AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco announced Wednesday that Dickies Arena in Fort Worth has been selected to host the tournament for three years, starting in March 2020. That is only four months after the facility is scheduled to open.

On the same day of a groundbreaking ceremony for the 14,000-seat arena last April, the NCAA announced that first- and second-round games of the 2022 NCAA men’s basketball tournament would be held there. The NCAA women’s gymnastics championships are scheduled there from 2020-22.

The closest AAC school to the new arena is SMU, with its campus in Dallas about 40 miles away.

Orlando will host the 2018 AAC tournament, which moves to Memphis in 2019.

North Carolina has wrapped up a two-day hearing with an NCAA infractions committee panel that will decide whether the school faces penalties tied to its multi-year academic scandal.

Now the case goes into yet another holding pattern.

School officials spent much of Wednesday in a closed-door meeting with committee members in Nashville, Tennessee. They returned Thursday morning for a second session lasting about 4½ hours with the panel that will determine whether UNC faces penalties such as fines, probation or vacated wins and championships.

NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn confirmed the hearing was complete but both sides were mum afterward.

Osburn didn’t comment further because the panel must deliberate before issuing a ruling, which typically comes weeks to months after a hearing. UNC athletics spokesman Steve Kirschner said the school wouldn’t have any comments about the hearing either.

Getting through the hearing process was a major step toward resolution in a delay-filled case tied to irregular courses, though there’s still the potential for the case to linger beyond a ruling if UNC decides to appeal or pursue legal action. The school faces five top-level charges, including lack of institutional control.

The focus is independent study-style courses in the formerly named African and Afro-American Studies (AFAM) department. The courses were misidentified as lecture classes that didn’t meet and required a research paper or two for typically high grades.

In a 2014 investigation, former U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein estimated more than 3,100 students were affected between 1993 and 2011, with athletes making up roughly half the enrollments.

The NCAA has said UNC used those courses to help keep athletes eligible.

The case grew as an offshoot of a 2010 probe of the football program that resulted in sanctions in March 2012. The NCAA reopened an investigation in summer 2014, filed charges in a May 2015, revised them in April 2016 and then again in December.

Most notably, the NCAA originally treated some of the academic issues as improper benefits by saying athletes received access to the courses and other assistance generally unavailable to non-athletes. The NCAA removed that charge in the second Notice of Allegations (NOA), then revamped and re-inserted it into the third NOA.

UNC has challenged the NCAA’s jurisdiction, saying its accreditation agency — which sanctioned the school with a year of probation — was the proper authority and that the NCAA was overreaching in what should be an academic matter .

The NCAA enforcement staff countered in a July filing: “The issues at the heart of this case are clearly the NCAA’s business.”

UNC has argued non-athletes had access to the courses and athletes didn’t receive special treatment. It has also challenged Wainstein’s estimate of athlete enrollments, saying Wainstein counted athletes who were no longer team members and putting the figure at less than 30 percent.

None of the coaches are charged with a violation. But football and men’s basketball are referenced in the broad-based improper benefits charge tied to athlete access to the irregular courses, while women’s basketball is tied to a charge focused on a former professor and academic counselor Jan Boxill providing improper assistance on assignments.

Boxill and Deborah Crowder, who is also charged individually in the case, attended Wednesday with their attorneys but didn’t return Thursday. Crowder is a former AFAM office administrator who enrolled students, distributed assignments and graded many of the papers in irregular courses.

The infractions panel is chaired by Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey and includes former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Here’s what allegedly happened: He was at a bar in Overton Square in Memphis at 1:30 a.m. when he was handed a bill for more than $88 by a waitress. That waitress, who said she went to high school with Lawson, told police that he walked out of the bar and got into a Nissan Maxima and left without paying the bill.

Dedric has denied the allegation. Appearing on 92.9 FM, an ESPN radio station in Memphis, he said that he ordered two drinks worth a total of $10.50 and gave the waitress $12, but she wanted him to pay for drinks that were ordered by other people for other people. He did not order or drink those drinks, Lawson said, so he did not want to pay for them.

Lawson transferred from Memphis to Kansas this offseason. He was suspended by the Jayhawks for an altercation in practice last month and left home from the team’s trip to Italy earlier this month. He averaged 19.9 points and 9.2 boards for the Tigers last season, and will be sitting out this year as a transfer at Kansas.

At least five programs are currently in Barcelona: Clemson, Arizona, Oregon State, Grand Canyon and Tulane. All five programs have released statements confirming that all members of the traveling parties are safe and accounted for.

The attack occurred right outside Clemson’s hotel. The team is currently on lockdown.

According to Oregon State head coach Wayne Tinkle, the attack “happened directly in front of our hotel while we were having a team meal in the restaurant.”

Our entire travel party is safe and accounted for following the situation in Barcelona today. Our thoughts are with the people affected.